Since its inception in 1986, when a small group of community-minded individuals met for the first time together in an office in Streetsville, the primary purpose of the MICBA/Forum Italia organization has been to put back into the community a number of resources in recognition of what Canada has meant to Canadians of Italian origin who chose Ontario as their home.

Members of the organization feel truly blessed to live in a land where opportunity abounds and where citizens can choose a variety of ways to contribute to the building of a more caring and tolerant society. Volunteers have made an indelible impact on the development of Ontario’s society by providing a human contribution in terms of commitment, skill, expertise and, most importantly, of time, to many causes and projects that have brought a better quality of life to Ontario.

As part of a growing and dynamic city like Mississauga, the MICBA/Forum Italia organization plays an important role in helping to meet the needs of a growing and modern community. With the financial assistance of both the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada, Mississauga has been the recipient of a $30 million undertaking to provide affordable housing for families and frail elderly persons, a child care centre and a community cultural centre that will provide everyone in the community with access to programs and 30,000 square feet of indoor space including an art gallery, nondenominational chapel, lounge, multi-purpose hall with stage, classrooms and office space. A mobile bank and an office designated for the processing of senior citizens’ pensions are just two ways that the MICBA organization has demonstrated one of its primary objectives: helping seniors by centralizing many of the services required by residents living within the project or in the community at large.

Procuring a site for its development in the heart of one of Canada’s fastest growing cities, the MICBA/Forum Italia organization diligently undertook the enormous challenge of providing the community with a showplace of which every one of its citizens can be proud. Working together in a partnership with government and the private sector, community volunteers have spearheaded an ambitious campaign to build the physical facilities and implement programs designed to make life more enjoyable for seniors, young families and children.

The spirit of working together as a community—as did settlers of Upper Canada in Simcoe’s time—is a treasure and a triumph of the human spirit. Through endeavours of this kind we, in Ontario, can continue to build upon the rich heritage passed down to our generation and provide for future generations a shining example of what can be accomplished through means of mutual co-operation, caring and consideration. The fabric of multiculturalism—its diversity and unique character in combination with our nation’s founding peoples—gives Ontario new opportunities to flourish in education, manufacturing, culture and the arts.